today on r t it's one step for the obama administration one big leap back for human rights advocates a law that allows indefinite military detention of american citizens was held in court those details ahead. plus extremism comes in many shapes and forms that's no surprise but now the u.s. military has new classification standards for potential national security threats and changing your facebook status or social media preferences are on the list. and could there be a get mo two point zero tucked neatly into the northern illinois landscape a massive correctional facility that the federal bureau of prisons has its eyes on

the head will ask the obama administration plans to transfer guantanamo bay inmates to this facility. it is wednesday october third four pm in washington d.c. i'm christine for you're watching our team. once again with the latest ruling on the national defense authorization act or n.d.a. a federal appeals court ruled yesterday that the u.s. government can for now indefinitely detain anyone as most of you know this is a case that we've been following very closely since it was signed on new year's eve after president obama said he wouldn't sign it yesterday's ruling effectively overturns the ruling by u.s. district court judge katherine forest to permanently block the controversial provisions in m.d.a. on the grounds that they violated both protections by the first amendment and fifth due process a few months ago i sat down with one of the plaintiffs in the case hedges

a hedge is the obama here's chris hedges himself breaking down the two sections of the n.d.a. that the lawsuit focuses on sections of ten twenty one and ten twenty two which in essence allows the executive branch to strip an american citizen of their constitutional rights to due process and to hold them in military facilities that's what we're question a very very tiny part of the bill which i think you know you don't have to be a legal scholar to determine is clearly unconstitutional mean we agree just violation of constitutional rights is really you know undeniable so we want to break down exactly what yesterday's ruling means for the n.d.a. for journalists and for the country itself i'm joined now by carl mayer attorney for the mayer law group karl what's the bigger takeaway here from this latest ruling on n.d.a. . thanks christine thanks for having me on the the import of this ruling is more

procedural one than anything else this is an appeals court the second circuit court of appeals in manhattan and they ruled to put a stay on judge force permanent injunction but it's only a state pending appeal meaning that the second circuit is going to hear the merits of this case and whether this law the n.c.a.a. is unconstitutional and they'll hear it on an expedited basis which was part of their order yesterday which was i think a victory for our side because these appeals can take a year or two years sometimes but they set a briefing schedule that will allow them to rule on this probably within the next three to four months and at the end of the year beginning of next year it was not a victory to have them put a stay on and we thought that they made a mistake because by staying judge for this very carefully crafted order we think they're not giving. due regard to americans first amendment rights free speech rights and equal protection rights and let me know what they're doing i want to say

let me go through just for our viewers who haven't read this i want to go through some of the reasons listed listed excuse me for the stay first the government clarified unequivocally that journalists and activists are in no danger of being detained by the u.s. military the facts are does not affect the existing rights of u.s. citizens or others arrested in the u.s. it also says the language on the injunction appears to go beyond and itself to limit the government's authority under the authorization for the use of military force and talk a little bit about these reasons given by this three judge panel for why this stay was ok and necessary sure and again this was only a. two page order that a second circuit has not considered this on the merits they simply issued a procedural stay to probably be a panel of a completely. judges there will hear the merits of this case but as to the reasons that the first reason that they say is that the plaintiffs themselves according to

the government are in no danger detention what judge force addressed that in her opinion both and she said frankly the government when it was asked on the record can you were assured these plaintiffs that they were journalists and activists that they will not be detained under the n.d.a. they will not be put in military prisons the government councilors government lawyers repeatedly said we cannot offer those assurances we cannot offer those assurances and that was the only evidence that the government put in their case the government later shifted in their briefs in the briefs that they put into the second circuit and in those briefs they said that the plaintiffs are in no danger of being incarcerated by the military but that's better constitute evidence in a court of law and we can't believe the government's position and judge for yourself noted her opinion that the government had switched their position a couple of times in front of her they tried to hedge and say maybe some of the places are subject to detention some more so that reason we don't agree with and

that's what we are doing in our papers before the second circuit when they hear this appeal shortly. this is the second acted under the n.b.a. by the language the n.b.a. judge force also addressed that in her opinion is that the n.b.a. doesn't say anything of the kind it just says the existing law applies and part of the problem is that there's no reference to what existing law means and it has to be clarified and that's what judge for yesterday's permanent stay was issued as you mentioned by three judge panel of the u.s. court of appeals just a correction just aggressive is not a permanent it's a state pending appeal a lot of what i was when i was reading that it was calling it a permanent state but that the stay pending the appeal and it was issued by this three judge panel one of those judges granted an emergency stay a couple of weeks ago i guess i want to know from you are a little bit about the timing i mean what is the emergency here. well the from our perspective the emergency is it any point in time as long as there is this day and

as long as the n.d.a. is in effect at any point in time our point this or any other journalist or activists could be taken to a military prison and detained without counsel and without right to a trial by jury at any any time of the day or night that's that's the emergency that we have and we fake it violates the first amendment and since many united states constitution the government is saying that their their emergency is that they are peter the president is impeded and cannot conduct a war effort as long as judge force orders in place and the n.b.a. doesn't exist we say that's nonsense because the president all sorts of powers at his disposal to go after terrorists statute after statute after statute regulation after regulation after regulation that been passed and implemented since nine eleven so the government has yet to make its case in any evidence they haven't put into one witness not one document not one scrap of evidence just their briefs that

that's all they've put it to show why they need this emergency stay and we don't agree with it and i know one of the biggest problems the plaintiffs say they have is the nebulous language judge force called it unconstitutionally vague we're talking about the targeting of people who quote substantially support terrorists or associated forces chris hedges for example argues he could be a target because he's interviewing some alleged terrorists as part of his job why can't these provisions just be removed. well that is another option and we hope that during the pendency of this this appeal the congress will come to their senses and honor the constitution under the first first major principles of free speech the system prince with due process and repeal these provisions of the n.d.a. and make make it very clear what the government can do and what it can't do because right now there's a sort of damocles hanging over all journalists all activists effects all citizens

in this country who might have anything to say about terrorism the middle eastern situation really is they don't know whether they could be detained or not and what conduct would cause the government to detain them and this is precisely the problem karl has one more question for you i mean this is one criticism coming out of this ruling and that is that you know this is an example of the government not liking the results of one court so another part in the court of appeals just steps and i mean is this just part of the way the justice system in america works or you know is this the president using special powers what do you make of all this. well litigants have a right to appeal their cases this second circuit court of appeals is the last stop before the supreme court this case might well wind up in the supreme court but nonetheless president obama who had spoken out against the n.b.a.

and detaining american citizens he said clearly it's a two hundred years american history as one governing principle the military doesn't control our streets this law allows them in the military to patrol our streets and it should as judge force indicated a very strong opinion it should never have been passed and has now been struck down by the district court i think the obama administration is showing themselves to be on the wrong side of civil rights here they should and to. gone forward with this appeal they shouldn't have done it on emergency basis they they indicated in fact the judge forced it was such an emergency that if she didn't grant them stay they would go to the second circuit which is what they did i think that was. slightly inappropriate because it has almost the effect of of sort of intimidating a federal district judge they now have gotten their stay but they cannot escape i think from the merits and we think we're going to present

a very powerful appeal right we didn't think it was an important update to give because a whole lot of us follow this closely and we appreciate having you want to break this down carl meyer attorney for the mayor of law groups thank so much thank you christine thank you i want to talk now about the results of an investigation conducted by a branch of the u.s. military a terrorism advisory organization inside the u.s. army called the asymmetric warfare group how they've determined some factors a smell test if you will to find out of members of the military have become terrorists warning signs include quote peculiar discussions complaints about bias or people who are socially withdrawn or are frustrated with quote mainstream ideologies now risk factors for. article is asian include social networks and use so basically let's connect some dots here if you're in the military and you use facebook you have a higher propensity to turn against your coworkers and your government now i guess we shouldn't be surprised by this that was after all just

a few months ago that brandon robb a member of the u.s. marine corps was taken into custody for his facebook posts. will not violate my rights. here he is being taken from his virginia home by local authorities and the f.b.i. they arrested him back on august sixteenth after the f.b.i. found his post to be anti american and quote terrorist in nature rob was initially taken to a psychiatric hospital against his will he since been released but his case is one that sheds light on a larger trend here the u.s. government cracking down on certain types of speech by members of the military branches attorney is john whitehead he joins me now from charlottesville virginia to break down what this could mean on a larger scale and john what do you make of the results of this report. well again if you're on a social network such as facebook and you say something the government doesn't like get in

a lot of trouble with random rom i mean you have the article the security the f.b.i. the local police arrive and arrest him and he asked what he did and they said controversial postal facebook he was with them illustration luckily we found a judge that let him out within a week but a lot of people disappear so it seems here that if you're socially withdrawn you don't have a life close family members that's one of the so-called risk factors or you're participating in chassell facebook and you appear to be anti american and yellow these are all interpretations so one has to come up with the what is anti american you don't like the way you don't you're against the war in afghanistan well i know a lot of people say less anti american i say no that's free speech so what we're really dealing with here i think is the right to express yourself and not have the government categorize you as a weirdo because you have to disagree well and let's remember here a lot of people i have a lot of friends in the military and facebook is one outlet for them that they use to stay in touch with their families that they you know to look at pictures of their children all their friends and their college buddies to sort of stay

connected while they're so far away i mean it seems to me it's a little bit ironic that that would have you know also be a sign of somebody who could turn radical it's a risk you know well as well the risk factors they look at see if you go to become a terrorist which is crazy because you'll as we'll that we know now every by participating facebook but i tell people today i'm really serious about this idea of what i consider to be a facebook post there joking around or someone say don't say that because as it is you're you know your viewers may not know and some may know the national security agency has a facility in utah now that downloads one point six million bits of information from the internet every day so they're putting these things electronic files they can be used against you later if you're to become a judge or whatever so i think what we're seeing is the. elliott free speech clearly very nervous if they hear you well i have a copy of the respect is here i mean you're frustrated with mainstream idiology

that makes you aware to her terrorist it does it makes woody allen look like a terrorist this ridiculous now this this is a little tricky i don't want to undermine this the study was commissioned in part in response to that deadly shooting at fort hood by major nidal hassan most people remember he killed thirteen people back in two thousand and nine the government obviously has a responsibility to invest here to try to better you know detect early signs of radical thinking so john let me let you let me your take on this what do you think would be a better response well the f.b.i. did a rare e careful study of the school shooters and they what they came up with there is no profile school shooter. so the can't profile what we might consider to be insane people because most of the time there are exceptions they hide it they're very very good at that so the problem i see is what i see with schools cracking down zero tolerance behavior of a kid shooting a spirit why the kid with

a gun is going to get through eventually in the military here so john people who don't have full squoze family ties or they may not like the war or fighting the the person i think that you should really be watching who is hiding all this is going to get through so what they're doing they're focusing on liners in the majors or the problems so i see these checklists all the time people are people they're human beings you can put people in straight jackets and say here is your perfect robot like i said the f.b.i. cannot come up with one. i want to talk a little bit about your client brandon rob from what i understand he posted lyrics from songs on his facebook page he said some things critical of the government and was taken from his home against his will to a psychiatric institution first don what's the latest in his case and also kind of outline some of the lessons to be learned here you know he was taken away for is a controversial cause he was never arrested they say although he was handcuffed that's where it was that is while arrest warrant against him a search already does all right for. what we're doing now is we're repairing to

file a civil rights lawsuit on his behalf against the government because this is his rights were violated not only first amendment but he swore to militarize his statements were made on a private routing so somehow the f.b.i. got into his private facebook page and read the information without a search warrant so that's a real problem. i think the lessons to learn here is is that when government gets together with certain groups maybe psychologists and comes up with the so-called checklist what we're saying is they don't work and they will or in the same way of signs of people the first amendment is a way for people to express themselves and i tell them what officials dull bottle that up don't let people go into hiding because that's how you do get errors if they're afraid to go on the street corner i'd rather have a nazi on street corner preaching his gospel then somewhere in a basement making a bomb so what i'm saying is the first amendment is really important government

should promote free speech and limit that's interesting i have a friend in the us army did two tours in iraq and he used to always joke and he said you know i'm going to fight for everybody's freedom even though i don't get to have any freedom of my own it's tough because a lot of these guys are on the they're on the front lines they're seeing a lot of things and it's true they come back and they can't necessarily voice any sort of you know a disgruntled thought that they might have about what's going on in these countries when in fact they know more about it than any. in here and in the country you have a lot of vessels contact me and they're going over to afghanistan or iraq they're coming back and they're saying we should be over there and they're going on facebook in places like that and they're watching their discontent i would want to hear that and that's what america's all about the free flow of ideas but with these kind of regulations people are going to be nervous again i'd rather see the nazi on the street corner although i don't agree with or not see them to be a base for making a bomb so we want to encourage people to speak otherwise you're going to get

terrorists yeah i guess my last question for you i mean you just mentioned john that you have actually had other veterans other members of the military come forth and contact you i know that when brandon's case first came out it got a lot of media attention but most people sort of saw it as a very unique situation i mean is this more common than most people think that people are getting in trouble with the f.b.i. in trouble with authorities simply for things that they publish you know i had a number of veterans groups contact me and say the f.b.i. is investigating them because they're saying antigovernment things which again the first of them allows us to do but think about this is a bigger problem civil commit let's let the thing that have of the brand the raw the rest in any way he was in charge of the crime it's just what he did it what he said well we're twenty thousand occur a little bridge in a chair the civil commitment so they can be quite dangerous what happened to him is we got involved a lot of press and he got out but i'm afraid some people disappear and yes

a really good point constitutional attorney john whitehead thanks so much for joining us thank you for him of having me. well a storm is brewing over the recent purchase of a prison by the u.s. government the prison is in thomson illinois and the state made the sale to the federal bureau of prisons for one hundred sixty five million dollars so here's what's causing concern for some several lawmakers and groups are concerned it will eventually be used to how's inmates from guantanamo bay so right now there are more than one hundred sixty inmates in guantanamo bay and several lawmakers call the purchase a quote backdoor move to import terrorists from get into the united states the facility itself was built back in two thousand and one as a maximum security prison in thomson illinois it's got six hundred beds and has largely gone unused both the obama administration an attorney general eric holder say it would not be used for good detainees and if wanted out numerous times that moving inmates from guantanamo bay to the u.s.

is barred by federal law so this is seen as a historic move and i want to talk more about this with politico's white house correspondent josh gerstein josh you've done some reporting on this where is this notion coming from that this prison will be the future home of guantanamo bay detainees. well it's not a crazy idea because it was in fact the obama administration's idea the white house's idea a couple of years ago that they were going to move a lot of the detainees from guantanamo bay to this prison in illinois the ones that were going to be hilden indefinite detention perhaps about sixty of them and the idea was part of the prison would be used for that and part of it would be used for ordinary run of the mill federal criminal inmates so it was an administration proposal the only thing that's a little surprising about hearing it brought up now is that the administration gave up on this a couple years ago and actually agreed to write into law provisions that make it illegal to move prisoners from guantanamo to anywhere in the u.s.

mainland yeah i think one of the provisions is actually written in the national defense authorization act but this is interesting because i remember that you know back a couple years ago when this prison was slated to be this this future home forget my detainees a lot of people in this country said we don't want them in this country we don't want them in our state but some illinois today will take up this is maximum security it means quite a few jobs no one else wants and this is a win win situation why is this not the case anymore well i mean i think in illinois it is still a popular thing to do indeed dick durbin the senator from illinois who was a proponent of that idea bringing the guantanamo inmates there has turned out to be an even bigger proponent of simply placing the prison into federal government hands it's actually a pretty good deal for the federal government to buy that fully created and built prison as you said for one hundred sixty five million dollars attorney general holder said in a letter a few weeks ago that he thought it would cost four hundred million dollars to build

a prison like this from scratch and plus they get the keys to it basically right away they don't have to sit there and try to devise how to build it and then go about the actual construction. so i know that recently attorney general holder wrote a letter to republican congressman frank wolf the chairman of the subcommittee on commerce justice science and related in agencies on appropriations chairman well has been very vocal in his opposition to this purchase and attorney general holder says you know they should actually have common ground on this matter why don't they say well there is this a strong perception i think among particularly republicans in congress though to be honest it's both among republicans and democrats that americans are strongly opposed to bringing these people debut as terrorists at guantanamo bay onto u.s. soil and frankly this is an issue where the republicans basically ran the table in two thousand and nine and two thousand and ten completely pushed the president back on this you know all this legislation we talk about that's on the books it only got

on the books because congress passed it and president obama signed it congress didn't somehow get it on the books by itself so the republicans felt they had the upper hand on this politically and i have to say i do think there's a certain element of politics in all the statements coming out yesterday given how remote the possibility is that you would actually ever see quinton m o inmates at this prison in illinois i know josh we reported a few months ago the results of a study that showed that half of the detainee detainees i get now have actually been approved for release the problem is for example if they're from yemen it's not safe to send them back there i guess when you get your take about the larger guantanamo bay problem here. well i mean the president's policy has pretty much stalled out he made one speech in favor of it back in may of two thousand and nine and all the white house has basically done in public to make the case for their policy view since then is refer back to that speech the president hasn't invested any of his political capital in and so it basically stalled out completely and you

do have people on both the right and the left questioning whether the idea of closing guantanamo and moving guantanamo to the u.s. really makes a lot of sense if the objection is to techniques that were used to quinton him or and hand interrogations of people call them that's one thing but at the objection really as to holding people indefinitely as prisoners of war it's not entirely clear why going tommo is the problem you would just have thompson become as people said at the time going to pneumonia north and the protests would probably continue . one of the things that we've talked about here in our to quite a bit is you know we replay those sound bites from president obama he said it on sixty minutes he said it numerous times on the campaign trail that he intends to close guantanamo bay this is one of his campaign promises i would like to ask people who've done any reporting on this at all you know what what is your take why do you think. this is not

a campaign promise being made by the president four years later well it's still in the democratic party platform that it should be closed but it really wasn't mentioned by anybody at the democratic convention i think he's basically given up on the issue it is something that the president in theory still favors but the question isn't just whether he favors it in theory but how much capital is willing to put behind it and pretty much every time the white house has had to decide between investing time and effort and the president's public persona in closing guantanamo and any other issue any other issue seems to have won out and that's basically my view about why he's never managed to get any traction on that yes certainly. story here both with lawmakers just sort of feeling like they are we supposed to have our you know stamp of approval on this as well the politics of it the foreign policy aspect of it certainly something very interesting that we plan to keep our eyes on josh gerstein white house reporter for politico thanks so much thank you. well competent count is up next on our t.v.

let's check in with lauren lister to see what is on the agenda today hello lauren hi there christine i know you know and probably everybody in the audience knows that in the united states tonight is the first mitt romney baracoa obama debate of the presidential election race and we don't often veer into politics on this show but being that the country is at a crucial point and this is and election it could be largely determined based on the economy we do want to talk about what the outcomes could be and what it means for the economy especially christine it is an anniversary today four years ago on this date george w. bush signed tarp into law so there was a lot to reflect on and a lot to think about looking forward and we have gerald celeb trends forecaster to help tell us what he sees general that's one man who never hold his tongue and yeah the debate should be interesting focusing mostly on domestic issues i don't doubt that the economy will come up quite a bit more in leicester thanks so much q that's going to do it for now but for more

on the stories we covered go to youtube dot com slash r t america or our website r t v dot com slash usa and you can follow me on twitter at christine for example. culture is that so much of it taxpayers' money i mean was it here in the real nigerian let me call it austerity reeling from one crisis to another the western world has come to the rescue of the banking and financial sectors the. morning news today violence is once again flared up. and these are the images whole world has been seeing from the streets of canada. china operations are all today.

you know how sometimes you see a story and it seems so for lengthly you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else and you hear or see some other part of it and realize that everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom harvey welcome to the big picture.